USPTO Patents Application 09998488

What is claimed is:

1 . A carousel, comprising:
a drive track;

a plurality of bins arranged into rows, said bins being driven by said drive

track;

a drive mechanism for driving said drive track;
a sensor for sensing the position of said rows of bins; and
a processor responsive to said sensor and data representative of a plurality of
picks for more than one order for controlling said drive mechanism.

2. The carousel of claim 1 wherein said processor is responsive to data
representative of picks for more than one patient.

3. The carousel of claim 1 wherein said processor is responsive to data
representative of picks for more than one storage cabinet.

4. The carousel of claim 1 additionally comprising a display responsive to said
processor, said display located adjacent each row as each row is brought into a pick
position.

5. The carousel of claim 4 wherein each display identifies the quantity to be
picked and the order to which the pick belongs.

6. A carousel comprising:
first and second drive tracks;

a plurality of bins arranged into first and second pluralities of rows, said
first plurality of rows being driven by said first drive track, said second plurality of
rows being driven by said second drive track;

first and second drive mechanisms for driving said first and second drive
tracks, respectively;

sensors for sensing the position of said first and second pluralities of rows of
bins; and

a processor responsive to said sensors and data representative of a pick from
said first plurality of rows and said second plurality of rows for controlling said drive
mechanism.

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7. A method comprising:

scanning a bar code with a hand-held device;

inputting a quantity through the hand held device for the scanned bar code;
downloading the bar code and quantity information from the hand-held device;

and

queuing the information in a restocking device.

8. A method comprising:

displaying an order to be filled at a workstation;
initiating the order with a hand-held device;
filling the order manually;

indicating through the hand-held device that the order is filled; and
displaying another order to be filled at the work station.

9. A method comprising:

creating a restocking package from items held in a carousel in a centralized
storage location;

delivering the restocking package to a decentralized location; and
restocking the decentralized location with items from the restocking package.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the restocking step includes removing items
from the restocking package and inserting the items into specific locations.

1 1 . The method of claim 9 wherein the restocking step includes inserting the
restocking package into a specific location.

12. The method of claim 9 wherein the restocking step includes attaching the
restocking package to a dispensing device.

13. A method comprising:

creating a restocking package with items in a centralized storage location;
delivering the restocking package to a decentralized location; and
one of inserting the restocking package into a specified location in a
dispensing device or connecting the restocking package to the dispensing device.

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